Thursday, August 24, 2017

Archival Intern Final Progress


For Throwback Thursday we thought it might be interesting to look back on the past four months we, the archival interns, have had. We could describe to you how many boxes there were to sort, categorize and organize, but instead how about we just show you:
Middle of organizing…the intern’s office at the beginning of summer (what you can’t see are the two extra tables at the back of the room!)


 
A few of the boxes and stacks of magazines
Sorting The Aberdeen Angus News


















There were bins upon boxes upon bins upon more boxes, all heaped to the rim of old sale catalogues, magazines, association documents, and photographs. Our job, as archivists, was to decide what out of all this history was worth keeping, where it should go, and the importance it possessed. The task, at first, was daunting, especially considering that we were not the first interns to tackle this project.

The beginning of sorting 110 years’ worth of sale catalogues

Scanning magazines


More sale catalogues



















But over the next few months, things slowly fell into place. Magazines were put in chronological order, trophies were polished and displayed, and binders were created to hold the odds and ends. Anything that could be scanned was, and the acquisition of our new archiving software has made digitally sorting the documents immensely easier. We have become professionals at multi-tasking, and if you need someone to put labels on everything you own, we’re the girls for the job.


From six boxes of sale catalogues we narrowed it down to this bookshelf

The binders full of CAA historical documents


Boxes of sorted and scanned magazines and archival material
Sale catalogues dating back to 1906 are wrapped in plastic for added protection 




Now, our office (which resembled the inside of a paper shredder for much of the summer) looks more like this: 


Although it’s still a little messy and there are still some items to be sorted through, the extra tables are gone and the boxes are stacked neatly in the storage room (thanks, Alan!). It’s been a whirlwind of a summer, and it’s amazing to look back on it in photos to see just how far we’ve come!
Post by Kiani Evans
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